Implemented in 2007, at the time called Vengeance: Night of Champions, Night of Champions was for nine years an annual WWE pay-per-view in which all the promoter’s titles were required to be at stake. In 2016 it was replaced by Clash of Champions, with an identical concept.
The first two editions of Night of Champions (2007 and 2008) took place at the end of June, while the third took place at the end of July. Between 2010 and 2015 the pay-per-view took place in September, as in the first (2016), third (2019) and fourth editions (2020) of Clash of Champions. In 2017, however, it took place in December.
In 2016 Clash of Champions was a Raw exclusive, while in 2017 the exclusivity belonged to SmackDown. The Night of Champions will have its 10th edition this Saturday, May 27th, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If we count the event called Clash of Champions, this will be the 14th edition of the concept.
It is therefore worth checking out our list of the ten best fights in the history of Night/Clash of Champions, in chronological order.
Night of Champions 2012
WWE Championship : CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena
On Raw 1000 , on July 23, John Cena became the first wrestler to miss the Money in the Bank cash-in , as his match against CM Punk for the WWE Championship was cut short due to interference from BigShow. This led to a triple threat match at SummerSlam between Punk , Cena and Big Show in which Punk emerged victorious.
The following night on Raw , CM Punk won the right to choose his opponent for the Night of Championship and opted for John Cena , but under the condition that Cena admit on live television that Punk was the “best in the world”, which Cena refused. A week later, Raw General Manager AJ Lee announced that Punk would indeed defend the title against Cena at the pay-per-view .
Night of Champions 2014
WWE United States Championship :
Sheamus (c) vs. Caesaro
On the May 5, 2014 episode of Raw , Sheamus won a 20-man battle royal to capture the WWE United States Championship by last-place eliminating the previous champion, Dean Ambrose .
Meanwhile, Cesaro and Sheamus faced each other on the May 13 episode of Main Event , but the duel ended in a double countout . Six days later, on Raw , the Swiss beat the Irishman in a match without the title at stake, after a distraction caused by Paul Heyman, Cesaro ‘s manager at the time , and secured a title shot for Payback .
At the pay-per-view , Sheamus got the upper hand, making the bottom on Cesaro via a Small Package . Meanwhile, both participated in an eight-man ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, but it was John Cena who was crowned champion . Some time later, on the August 25 edition of Raw , Cesaro defeated Rob Van Dam in a SummerSlam rematch to become the top contender for Sheamus’ United States Championship .
Night of Champions 2014
Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho
On the September 1 episode of Raw , Chris Jericho invited Randy Orton to the Highlight Reel, but ended up getting Triple H , Kane, Seth Rollins and Orton himself . Meanwhile, John Cena and Roman Reigns also joined the conversation, which had a confrontational moment between Jericho and Orton . That same night, Reigns , Jericho and Cena defeated Rollins , Kane and Orton in a six-man tag team match after a Spearof Reigns in Kane.
The following week, Randy Orton attacked Chris Jericho backstage after a Steel Cage match between Y2J and Bray Wyatt , which Wyatt won. However, a match between Orton and Jericho was scheduled for Night of Champions .
Night of Champions 2015
WWE United States Championship :
Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena
On the July 20 episode of Raw , United States Champion John Cena challenged WWE World Champion Seth Rollins to a match for the company’s top title. However, Rollins refused.
A week later, Cena again challenged Rollins , but The Authority forced him to defend the WWE United States Championship against Rollins , having managed to retain the belt despite breaking his nose during the match.
Against this background, Rollins challenged Cena to a match at SummerSlam in which the winner would take both titles, which was promptly accepted. At SummerSlam, Seth Rollins defeated John Cena to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and capture the United States Championship .
On the August 24 episode of Raw , The Authority presented Rollins with a statue. The following week, Cena triggered his rematch clause to face Rollins for the United States Championship at Night of Champions .
Clash of Champions 2016
Best of Seven – Match 7 (3-3 tie): Caesar vs. Sheamus
After being defeated by Cesaro on the August 1 episode of Raw , Sheamus attacked the Swiss . A week later, Cesaro beat the Irishman again, but lost a match for the United States Championship against Rusev after interference from Sheamus. The following week, Cesaro caused a distraction to Sheamus which cost the Irishman a defeat at the hands of Sami Zayn .
However , Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled a series of best-of-seven matches between Cesaro and Sheamus beginning at SummerSlam . Sheamus won the first three matches, at SummerSlam and on the August 29 and September 5 episodes of Raw , but Cesaro won the next three, at a house show on September 7 and on the September 12 and 19 episodes of Raw. . It was then necessary for both to face each other for the seventh time, at Clash of Champions .
Clash of Champions 2016
Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho
During the summer of 2016, Chris Jericho teamed up with Kevin Owens . On the September 12 episode, Jericho hosted a The Highlight Reel with Owens ‘ former best friend , Sami Zayn , as a guest. In that segment, Zayn questioned the alliance between Jericho and Owens , which led to Y2J defending Owens and attacking Zayn . That same night, Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled a match between Jericho and Zayn for Clash of Champions .
Clash of Champions 2017
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship :
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) vs. Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable vs. Rusev & Aiden English
On the October 10 episode of SmackDown , Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin defeated The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder), Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a fatal four-way tag team match to determine the top contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship .
Gable & Shelton received the title opportunity from The Usos on the November 7 episode, having won via count-out , which resulted in the champions retaining their belts. Weeks later, it was announced that The Usos would defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against New Day and Gable & Shelton at Clash of Champions , but in the episode Rusev and Aiden English were added to the match after defeating Kofi Kingston and Big E.
Clash of Champions: Gold Rush (2020)
ladder match by WWE Intercontinental Championship :
Jeff Hardy (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn
In May 2020, Sami Zayn saw the WWE Intercontinental Championship withdrawn after refraining from competing during the first months of the covid-19 pandemic. However, AJ Styles won a tournament to determine the new champion on the June 12 episode of SmackDown .
Two months later, on the August 21 episode, Jeff Hardy defeated Styles to win the title , despite The Phenomenal One attacking his leg before the match. The following week, Styles interrupted Hardy , referring that Hardy was cheating in the way he won the match, by using the knee pad that was placed on him to kick Styles . That same night, Zayn returned to action, brought his own belt, claiming he was the true champion as he had never been defeated for the title , and attacked Hardy . In the weeks that followed, the three clashed with each other, all claiming to be the true champion.
On the September 18 episode of SmackDown , Hardy announced that he would defend the title against Styles and Zayn in a ladder match at Clash of Champions . A week later, it was announced that both belts ( Hardy’s and Zayn ‘s ) would have to be captured in order for someone to be declared Intercontinental Champion.
Clash of Champions: Gold Rush (2020)
Ambulance match for the WWE Championship :
Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton
On the July 27, 2020 episode of Raw , Randy Orton came out to the ring, listed all of his career accomplishments, and stated that he wanted to win the WWE Championship again , which led to him challenging champion Drew McIntyre to a title match at SummerSlam . That same night, Orton applied an RKO to the Scotsman after a match between McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler .
At SummerSlam, McIntyre retained the title via backslide pin . On Raw the following night, the champion bragged about achieving a victory over the self-proclaimed “greatest wrestler ever” with a wrestling move and announced that he knew Orton wanted a rematch. As he exited the ring, McIntyre was attacked by Orton, who applied two Punts. In that same episode, Keith Lee made his debut on the main roster and challenged Orton to a match, which would take place moments later, with Orton winning via disqualification, after interference from McIntyre, who was later kicked in the head again. by Orton and ended up staying two weeks away from the ring.
Randy Orton and Keith Lee met again at Payback, this time with victory smiling at Lee.
The night after the pay-per-view, Randy Orton won a sort of mini-tournament to determine who would face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at Clash of Champions, but on the same episode of Raw, he suffered three Claymore kicks from the Scotsman. The following week, McIntyre announced that the match between the two would be played under the rules of an Ambulance match.
Clash of Champions: Gold Rush (2020)
WWE Universal Championship :
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jey Uso
After beating Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman at Payback 2020, Roman Reigns opened SmackDown alongside Paul Heyman, who explained the partnership between the two. Unlike what happened with Brock Lesnar, in which Heyman worked as an advocate, this time he was at Reigns’ side as an advisor.
Paul Heyman also announced that the top contender for the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions would be determined in a fatal four-way match between Big E, Matt Riddle, King Corbin and Sheamus that same night. However, Big E was unable to compete after being attacked by Sheamus backstage and was replaced by Jey Uso, cousin of Roman Reigns, who ended up winning.
